TP-Link TL-WA860RE Wi-Fi Extender Review

TP-Link TL-WA860RE Wi-Fi signals extender which uses the mains power supply and boost up the signal strength of your existing Wi-Fi network connection. The miniature size extender has wall-mounted design make it easy to deploy and move flexibly. Once you configured it with your existing network router, you can simply unplug and plug it anywhere without the need to configure it again. Moreover, its integrated power socket ensures that no power outlet goes to waste.

Plug it wherever your existing network is weak, additionally it has single Ethernet port that allows the Extender to function as a wireless adapter to connect wired devices like Blu-ray players, gaming consoles, DVRs and Internet TVs. At the same time, the device can also share the wireless network.

It has some smart light which lets you know about the strength of the signal that it receives from the existing router, which can help to find the best location for optimal Wi-Fi coverage.

While setting it up, in our existing network, it took only a few minutes. Once configured, we relocated it to another place further away from the existing router: An LED on the front helps us to decide where we could place it for the best results. It comes with two external, rotating antennae to boost the Wi-Fi signal to areas that were previously bereft of wireless internet. We plugged in extender in out test lab. We then ran our tests from roughly 15m from the TL-WA860RE. We used a smartphone and a laptop to test the signal strength and speed. We transferred the 61 MB file that took 13 seconds. Using Wi-Fi Network Analyzer, we tested the wireless speed of the router and it resulted in 54 MBPS of speed and -57 dBm of signal strength.